Red, Like A Strawberry
by xMissCatastrophe
Summary: Iggy and Fang are out walking to get food and Iggy is distracted by the smell of Shaylin's strawberry shampoo. Short oneshot. Iggy/Shaylin. T for mild language.


**A/N: Just a short oneshot of mine. I read Destined and knew that I had to put these two together! Anyway, I hope you like it :3 You get cookies if you review!**

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><p>I was walking along the sidewalk with Fang at my side, first two fingers of my left hand in his belt loop. He was wearing black jeans. I could feel the black snaking its way up my veins, into my head. The color wasn't much of a change, since I usually saw blackness, but it was a little bit lighter, with strands of white through it. It was a strange color. We were silent as we walked, which was fine by me. Fang was Mr. Strong-and-Silent, so I decided to be quiet, too. It was a pleasant change from the loudness of the flock in the house, anyway. Fang and I liked to take walks. Today we were walking to get food.<p>

A nice breeze drifted around us slowly. Breezes always reminded me of the water; wrapping itself around you, cooling you off. In the breeze I caught just the slightest scent of strawberry shampoo and powdery deodorant. I sniffed the air again, the scent stronger this time. "Fang, do you smell that?" I asked, tugging his belt loop gently.

The boy's steps slowed cautiously. "Smell what? Like, an Eraser smell?" he asked. I heard him sniff the air.

"No, not an Eraser smell. The strawberry shampoo."

"Like Max's?"

I groaned inwardly. Max didn't even _have _strawberry shampoo. "No! Max's shampoo is kiwi! This is strawberry. Sweeter. Kiwis are usually sour. This is sweet. It's strawberries," I told him defiantly, standing up a little straighter.

Fang's smile was almost audible. "It's sad that you know the scent of my girlfriend's shampoo better than I do."

I grinned. "I have better senses. Or maybe I just pay more attention," I explained to him.

He must've nodded or grinned or something, because he didn't say anything after that.

We kept walking. We walked for about five minutes and I'd almost forgotten about the strawberry shampoo until it was right behind me. I kept hearing a _tap, tap, tap _sound. "Fang," I mumbled as quietly as I could, "what is that sound behind us? I can smell the strawberries again." I probably sounded like a full-out creeper to the poor person behind us. Who am I kidding? I _am_ a creeper!

I felt him turn, causing me to move, too, so I wouldn't lose his belt loop. "Hey," he said to someone that wasn't me. "Do you use strawberry shampoo? My friend here can smell some and it seems to be just driving him crazy."

"Um, why yes, I do, random gentleman! Where...where are you? Sorry, it's just that I'm blind and" -more tapping- "I don't have super senses. Although, that'd be really cool!" Her voice was beautiful and soft, like velvet.

Someone else who was blind? And a female at that? Yahoo!

"To your right," Fang said quietly.

There were a few more short taps before it ceased and all was quiet for a few seconds. "I'm Shaylin," the girl told Fang awkwardly.

"I'm Fang. This is Iggy. He's blind, too."

I raised my hand and waved stupidly, forgetting that she was also blind. "Yo."

There was a sharp intake of breath. "Wait! No way! Your friend's blind, too? That's so...oh my gosh! I've never met another blind person!" she exclaimed excitedly. I heard plopping on the ground. I suspected she was bouncing with excitement.

"Yup. Can't see a thing. Well, unless you give me your hand. Then I can see some colors," I admitted.

Another breeze blew through wherever it was we were. It was warm, like the one before, and blew more of her glorious-smelling strawberry shampoo at me. I breathed it in deeply and sighed quietly. "You smell magnificent, by the way."

Fang stiffened beside me abruptly. "I'm gonna go pick up a pizza, okay, Ig? You stay here until I get back." He managed my fingers out of his belt loop gently. I felt him unfurl his gorgeous midnight wings and shoot off into the sky, leaving me alone with this new acquaintance. _Gee, Fang, thanks for letting me know if she was attractive or not._

"Well, he sure seemed uncomfortable," Shaylin noted as soon as it felt like he was gone.

I nodded. "Yeah, Fang gets pretty awkward around new people. Especially females. No offense."

She laughed, and it was a lovely sound. Easygoing and cute. A leaf brushed my bare leg. That always bugged me when I wore shorts. Leaves just really seem to love my legs. I sure don't love them. They feel weird, all shrivelly and annoying. "None taken. So, Iggy, you say you can feel colors, hm? What color is my top, then?" Shaylin qupped sarcastically, tacking a very soft chuckle to the end of her question.

I grinned. "Well, let me find your top first!" I exclaimed, flailing stupidly out at air for a moment before brushing fabric. It was one hundred percent cotton from what I could tell. The brush wasn't enough to let the color seep into me, so I grabbed it and stumbled a little closer to the girl, my big feet (at least, I think they're big) getting caught in one another. The color of the fabric melted into my fingers and crawled up my arm, giving me that prickly sensation that red did. The color blazed behind my unseeing eyes, bright like a blush. Like a strawberry. Red. Her shirt was red. "Red," I told her, not letting go of her shirt, but holding it tighter. "Your shirt is bright red. Like an apple or a rose."

She gasped quietly. The air moved, and I guessed she was "looking" down at her shirt. "Wow. You're good."

"So they tell me," I replied, cockiness seeping into my voice. I stepped a little closer to her so that I could feel her body heat radiate against me. It was nice and warm, welcoming. The smell of strawberries was stronger, which I had thought to be impossible. _God, _did it smell great. I got also just the smallest hint of lemon. Strawberry and lemon.

She must have felt me move closer to her, because I felt her warm hands on my chest. "Oh, gosh. You're so close." She giggled. "Do you feel what color your clothes are, or are the color sensors just on your fingers?"

"You ask a lot of questions, missy," I told her, smirking and placing my hands over hers, covering them completely. "I'm smirking like a cocky bastard, by the way."

"I ask, you answer. That's how this game works," she told me, rubbing her long, elegant fingers on the fabric of my navy blue t-shirt. She had the stubbiest nails. They reminded me of Max's, only they were painted red. At least, that's how they felt through my shirt. Feeling color through fabric isn't an easy task.

I grazed one of my fingers against hers before replying. "I can feel color everywhere. My shirt is navy blue, my shorts are black. I'm numb to my clothes because I've had them on for a few hours," I explained. "Oh, and your short nails are red, like your shirt. Only, they're a different red. Like a candy apple red."

One of her hands left my chest and didn't return. She must have grabbed something. Probably a cane, which would explain the tapping noise prior to us talking. "You can really feel that through your shirt?" The stranger asked, sounding impressed. She leaned on something, her other hand going sideways on my chest. Yeah, definitely a cane. I let one of my hands go to the wall next to us. It too was red, but a brick red. Not like Shaylin's shirt, not like Shaylin's nails.

"Just barely. It almost felt pinkish, but it was too dark, so I said red."

"So, Iggy" -she said my name like it was a blessing or something- "what other spectacularly inhuman abilities do you have?"

I began to laugh. God, she had no clue and already she was guessing that there was something wrong with me! Jeez. Smart one, this girl. "Why are you laughing? What...what did I do?" She was so confused. I imagined her face was probably getting this dumbstruck look on it.

"You have no idea, that's what's funny!" I exclaimed, running a free hand through my hair. I'm not sure how to explain my hair. It feels like Angel's and Gazzy's, but it's a little bit darker, but not brown, either. Fang and Max always say that it's strawberry blond. I still liked the color. Like a very pale yellow. It tingled my fingertips every time I touched it. "My blindness is one of my inhuman gifts, if you will. I'm a science experiment, essentially. Oh, I have wings, too. Freaked yet?"

Now she was the one laughing. "Yeah, and Tinkerbell lives in my basement!"

I frowned. "No, I'm serious!"

She just laughed quietly. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

I bit my lip, unfurling my left wing and stroking her arm with it. "That's my wing. Fang has them, too. If you don't believe me yet, would you like to go for a fly?" I asked, cockiness leaking into my voice again.

Shaylin jerked away at the touch of my feathers. "Whoa, you're really not shitting me! Holy hell, that is so cool! Can I touch 'em?"

I winced, taking her small hand off of my chest. "Oh, sure." I turned a little so she could feel them better.

"Holy crap! They're so...so...cool! For my lack of a better word, sheesh!" Well. At least she was excited.

I heard and felt Fang's loud landing next to me and imagined him stumbling like an idiot. Let's just say that Fang wasn't the best with his landings. "Iggy," he said in a quiet voice. "I have the pizza. You ready to go?"

Shaylin gasped. "Oh, you scared me, other guy! You have wings, too, huh? Iggy told me all about them!"

Fang chuckled quietly. I heard him walk over to me, felt his rough, calloused hand grab mine. "Oh, yeah, the wings. We're special kids. Anyway, sweetie, we've gotta go. Have a flock to get back to and feed. The baby birdies are probably starting to get anxious." Fang's voice was so dark, alluring...mysterious. Maybe that's why Max loved him so much.

Shaylin made a slight whimpering noise. "All right. Well, I'll 'see' you around, guys. Be careful on the way home!" I could hear the air quotes when she said "see".

And then she was gone, taking the tantalizing scents of strawberry and lemon with her. I sighed, breaking out of the spell I was in.

As we took off, Fang commented, "Damn, Ig, you look like you're stoned out of your mind."

I just grinned and flew alongside him, keeping all of my private thoughts about my conversation with Shaylin to myself.

He must've looked over at me, because I heard him say something that sounded like, "It was the strawberries."

Fang couldn't have been more right.


End file.
